Sri Lanka joins the global crypto adoption drive after setting up a committee for exploring and implementing blockchain and crypto mining technologies. A letter shared on Oct. 8 by Sri Lanka’s director general of government information, Mohan Samaranayake, shows that the authorities have approved a recent proposal that aims to attract investments in the country’s blockchain and cryptocurrency initiatives. According to Samaranayake, the Sri Lankan authorities have identified the need to develop “an integrated system of digital banking, blockchain and cryptocurrency mining technology” as a means to stay on par with global partners and international markets. He added:

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According to data from eth.btc.com，ethereum network's hashrate is715,879.28 GH/s，mining difficulty is9,668.90T. ETH's price ：$ 3,523.82 Avg Gas Price：75.00Gwei Pending Txs ：133219

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said the Treasury Department may be more of a threat to innovation in blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the United States than the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Speaking at the Texas Blockchain Summit in Austin on Friday, Lummis said her recent concerns with the federal agency came from the language concerning brokers of cryptocurrency in the infrastructure bill currently at the center of debate in Congress — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has expressed her support of the legislation. Under the wording passed by the Senate in August, brokers would have to report digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 to the Internal Revenue Service. “The definition that was proposed showed a fundamental misunderstanding of Bitcoin and other digital assets,” said Lummis, who claimed many brokers under the bill with little to no knowledge of their clients would not have the information necessary to file reports.

A nuclear engineer and his wife have been arrested in West Virginia on charges of espionage and selling restricted data. The couple sold classified information regarding the designs of nuclear-powered warships to an individual they believed to represent a foreign nation for almost a year. However, the contact was an undercover United States Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who sent payments for the data in cryptocurrency. Jonathan and Diana Toebbe were apprehended by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on Saturday. They will appear in federal court on Tuesday. According to a statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland:

Countries in the developing world will soon follow in the steps of El Salvador and make Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender, BitMEX CEO Alexander Höptner recently predicted. In a Wednesday blog post, Höptner expressed support for El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender in September, predicting that developing countries will be “leading the way” in Bitcoin adoption: According to Höptner, developing countries will adopt Bitcoin faster due to three major factors: the growing need for cheaper and faster international remittances, massive inflation, and political issues.

United States Senator Ted Cruz believes that his country should be using natural gas to mine Bitcoin (BTC) instead of flaring it. Speaking during Friday’s Texas Blockchain Summit, Senator Cruz asserted that Bitcoin mining can be used to monetize energy created through oil and gas extraction rather than burning it, arguing that there is “enormous opportunity for Bitcoin [...] to capture that gas instead of wasting it.” According to a transcription of the talk shared to social media by Coin Metrics founder Nic Carter, Cruz noted that half of the natural gas flared in the country is currently being burned in West Texas. “It’s being wasted because there is no transmission equipment to get that natural gas where it could be used the way natural gas would ordinarily be employed,” he added.

For the first time in chess history, grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has been awarded a nonfungible token (NFT) trophy for winning an international chess tournament, Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (MCCT). The tournament minted a number of NFT trophies and collectibles to indefinitely preserve the game’s most defining moments.  Speaking to Cointelegraph, Carlsen shared his appreciation of the cryptocurrency ecosystem for supporting virtual chess tournaments. The chess champion cited MCCT’s recent partnership with FTX crypto exchange that allowed professional chess players to compete for a prize fund of 2.1825 Bitcoin (BTC) ($81,079).  “NFTs help the chess community celebrate great moments and possibly also reward those that have already invested so much time in growing the game. With Chess Champs, this is just getting started and I look forward to seeing it evolve,” Carlsen said.

Bill Miller, a seasoned Wall Street investor and founder of Miller Value Partners, advocated for the rise of Bitcoin (BTC) during a recent conversation with author William Green but voiced skepticism around many of the altcoins birthed during 2017. Miller subscribes to the well-documented thesis that Bitcoin portrays digital gold, and unlike many of his financial contemporaries — Warren Buffet being the most prominent — he has been a keen investor in the digital asset space. Back in early 2016, Miller dedicated 30% of his portfolio to the leading crypto asset Bitcoin at an average value of $500 and has more recently filed a motion with the SEC for Miller Opportunity Trust to invest in BTC via the institutional-grade $2.25 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom, Lord Philip Hammond, has joined cryptocurrency custodial group Copper as a senior advisor with the ambition of “promoting the UK as a global leader in digital asset technology.” The London start-up firm, which provides custodial and infrastructure services in the digital asset sector, reportedly facilitates over $50 billion in transaction value per month for in excess of 400 institutional clients. During his administration as chancellor between 2016 and 2019, Hammond was commended for expanding the nation's financial technology sector as well as fostering a capitalistic environment for start-up businesses.

2B4CH, a Swiss non-profit think tank assisting the state in exploring cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology, is launching an initiative that could make Bitcoin one of the country’s reserve assets. On Friday, the association announced plans to start a popular federal initiative by collecting 100,000 signatures for the introduction of Bitcoin to article 99 clause 3 of the Swiss federal constitution. The initiative specifically proposes to add Bitcoin to the list of assets held by the Swiss central bank, which would change the constitutional clause to: “The Swiss National Bank shall create sufficient currency reserves from its revenues; part of these reserves shall be held in gold and Bitcoin.”

Lawmakers belonging to South Korea’s opposition People Power Party have prepared a fresh challenge to the planned crypto tax law. According to The Korea Herald, opposition lawmakers are advocating for a one-year extension to the start of crypto taxation in the country. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, South Korea’s crypto tax regime that will see the imposition of a 20% levy on cryptocurrency gains above 2.5 million Korean won ($2,100) will come into effect in 2022.

Users who hold debit cards issued by cryptocurrency exchange Bakkt will be able to convert their crypto balances to make fiat payments using Google Pay. In an Friday announcement, Bakkt said it had partnered with Google to allow its users to purchase goods and services using Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies through the Google Pay wallet and payment system. In addition, Bakkt plans to build new analytics and geolocation functionality on its platform using Google Cloud tools. The exchange hopes that the features will expand loyalty redemption options “while providing Bakkt partners with valuable consumer behavior patterns.” “This partnership is a testament to Bakkt’s strong position in the digital asset marketplace, to empower consumers to enjoy their digital assets in a real-time, secure, reliable manner,” said Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has announced plans to invest part of the $4 million worth of profits the country has amassed from its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to invest into constructing a new veterinary hospital in the local capital of San Salvador. Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Bukele revealed that El Salvador’s state-operated Bitcoin trust currently holds $4 million worth of profits gleaned from its recent Bitcoin embrace. Bukele announced that part of the funds will be invested into constructing a veterinary hospital featuring four operating rooms, four emergency clinics, 19 offices, and a rehabilitation area. “We decided to invest a part of that money in this: a veterinary hospital for our furry friends,” he said.

Video sharing platform YouTube removed the 251,000-subscriber channel of Anthony 'Pomp' Pompliano, co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital and host of The Pomp Podcast, before later restoring it. In an Oct. 11 update on his Twitter account, Pompliano — a Bitcoin (BTC) bull known for his interviews educating skeptics and others on crypto — said he received a message from YouTube claiming a recent livestreamed interview with stock-to-flow model creator PlanB encouraged “illegal activities.” Pompliano’s entire channel was unavailable for roughly two hours before being returned to the platform, with all videos on BTC and crypto viewable to the public. “[YouTube] first stated that the content, an interview on Bitcoin, was harmful and dangerous,” said Pomp. “They then stated that we would receive a strike, but then I received a second email saying the channel was being deleted seconds later.”

The value settled on the Bitcoin network has been surging recently, reaching a new daily all-time high last week. Bitcoin’s daily settlement value hit an all-time high on Wednesday, with $31 billion worth of transactions being settled on-chain using the Bitcoin network. The record high marks an increase in the network’s daily settlement volume of approximately 40 times since the beginning of 2020.

Cryptocurrency risk management firm Elliptic has announced a $60 million Series C funding round led by Evolution Equity Partners and supported by a panoply of venture capital firms including SoftBank Vision Fund 2, as well as existing investors AlbionVC, Digital Currency Group, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital and SBI Group, amongst others. Elliptic's history of funding charts a consistent increase, with their debut funding raise in 2016 totaling $5 million, while their second raise across late 2019 to early 2020 resulted in an additional $28 million. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in London, Elliptic captures analytical data from the blockchain sector to provide anti-money laundering and compliance services to fintech institutions, governmental and legislative groups, and crypto organizations from financial crime, in addition to enhancing their resilience to risk.

The Chinese government-backed blockchain project, the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), continues expanding its global presence by setting up two new portals in Turkey and Uzbekistan. Red Date Technology, the architect behind the BSN project, has signed an agreement with a Turkish consultancy firm, Turkish Chinese Business Matching Center (TUCEM), to launch two international BSN portals in Turkey and Uzbekistan in late December 2021. Established in 2006, TUSEM became a major economic cooperation hub between Turkey and China. The company will be the exclusive operator of the two new BSN portals offering blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) in Turkey and Uzbekistan.

According to data from eth.btc.com，ethereum network's hashrate is714,770.07 GH/s，mining difficulty is9,691.80T. ETH's price ：$ 3,509.66 Avg Gas Price：74.00Gwei Pending Txs ：132511

A major international airport in Venezuela is reportedly preparing to start accepting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for tickets and other services. Simón Bolívar International Airport is working to enable cryptocurrency payments to comply with local industry standards, regional news agency El Siglo reported on Sunday. Also known as Maiquetia, the airport is located in downtown Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. According to Maiquetia airport director Freddy Borges, the airport plans to accept many cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Dash and Venezuela’s oil-pegged digital currency, the Petro. He said that the airport’s administration would introduce new payment options in coordination with Venezuela’s National Superintendence of Crypto Assets and Related Activities.